This isn't the first time that the DoD is using PS3 consoles for supercomputing. In fact, these 2,200 units are going to be added to an existing Linux cluster of 336 PS3s used by the United States Air Force. According to Justification Review Documents, the purchase is all about getting the best value out the DoD's budget:

With respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two 3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost approximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over 200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150 GFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony PS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications.

I'm all for balancing cost and features, but isn't it just a bit curious that someone thought to save on upgrading the supercomputer just after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released? [Ars Technica via Boing Boing]

What you will get is a kind of "service offering with premium content and services" that you can't get in the free edition, but what that is is unclear. But it's unlikely that Sony will charge for the services they give away now, such as the ability to play for free online. [Gamespot via Engadget]

Update: For now, IBM's just saying that the successor to the current PowerXCell 8i is canned, not all Cell development. [Fudzilla via MaxConsole, Driver Heaven]

Painfully, the ad makes it look like the God of Collection is two separate games. A quick comparison of Black Friday console deals from the big guys:

Walmart
• Playstation 3 Console w/Infamous & Batman Arkham Asylum Games + Dark Knight Blu-ray – $300

Best Buy
• Sony PlayStation 3 Package w/120GB Console, Little Big Planet, and Ratchet and Clank – $300
• Xbox 360 Elite 120GB with Pure and Lego Batman + four games: Sonic the Hedgehog, Spider-Man Web of Shadows, Wall-E, and Ghost Recon 2 – $300

So if you're after an Xbox 360 Elite, then Best Buy seems to be the clear winner so far, while for me, Walmart's PS3 deal looks like the pick of the crop. GameStop does have a bunch of cheap games, though. Check out the listing at: [Kotaku]

"Avatars displayed to a user, in response to user gestures in the real world, e.g. in response to manipulation of a game controller or other such expedient [PlayStation Eye or wand-based motion control?—Ed], may toss tomatoes that stick to the actor's face or bounce off the actor's face and roll along a table that appears in the movie or television show."

The virtual avatars would be overlaid just like Joel Robinson's silhouette in Mystery Science Theater 3000. In fact, the patent application actually mentions the cult U.S comedy series.

"The avatar of the audience member 39a is now out of its seat, has rushed up to the actor in the scene, and has kicked the actor in the behind while the target is still displayed. The first participant to accomplish this may be awarded points…The kicked individual may be displaced or the portion of the body that is kicked may respond. Key to this aspect of the invention is modeling the physics and the interaction of the impacting object, e.g. the duck and the underlying object, e.g. the water, in a way that is realistic. Known game technology techniques can be used to accomplish this modeling."

Sony's patent also mentions the possibility of overlaying advertising like Nike and Coke logos. Come to think of it, being able to throw tomatoes at ads might actually get me to stop skipping them. At least until the novelty wears off. Either way, crazy stuff, no? [USPTO via Silicon Era via Kotaku]

The game, which hits in Japan on Dec. 17, will include a new battle system, a "dramatic story" focused on the emotions of the character and will feature a Leona Lewis single as the game's opening theme.

Also, holy crap, are you looking at this video? Because it's spectacular. The video also gives us a better look at the game's Paradigm system.

You may want to watch this video full-screen, just click on that button in the bottom right corner.

OK, the last one isn't super interesting, but the Facebook feature would be nice. Looks like Sony caught on before we had the chance to confirm the pics ourselves, but ScrawlFX says it found the them here, here and here. [ScrawlFX via Kotaku]

The interface is technically new in that it's visually catered to the PS3, but it should look familiar to anyone who's used Netflix on a Blu-ray player or connected TV in the past. This means it's pretty basic: so far as I can tell there are just "Instant Queue" and "Recently Watched" tabs, with none of the additional—though admittedly kind of useless—category views Xbox users are used to, and video navigation is unchanged, with the same visual timeline taking care of FF and RW funtions. One thing Xbox users aren't used to, though, is not having to pay for the privilege: Netflix-subscribed PS3 owners can just order a free disc and be done with it; Xbox owner need to have a paid Live subscription as well. (Ballmer's gotta eat!)

In any case, the experience is smooth from start to finish, with a fast-loading interface and the same near-instant streaming you get on any other platform. It's just a shame you need a disc—until this is part of the PS3 firmware, it'll feel more like a hack than a new feature. [Engadget]

Among my favorites were the alarm clock, the CyberShot, the old-school Discman (I have one like it hiding in a drawer!), the PSP, and, of course, the Playstation 3.

Those are the Sony toys which got my attention, but you can check out the rest of the gadget porn over at Wired, and then maybe make some of your own. [Wired]

Apparently, the free disc activates the Netflix mojo via BD-Live, in what must be the best use of BD-Live ever. At least until the next major system update, you'll have to load up the disc every time you want to use Netflix. But you'll be able to pick out movies or throw stuff into your queue using an onscreen interface, so there's no going back to the old-school days where you had to add stuff to your queue on your computer before strolling over to your Xbox and TV.

Pop on over to Netflix to reserve the disc now—I have a feeling there's gonna be a huge demand crush for them. [Netflix, Sony, Thanks Kyle B!]

$1,000,058.98...I'm not gonna lie. It's tempting. [Amazon Thanks Naked Fish!]

As you can see, a removable mask also turns the face into Skeletor. For $25, you too, can celebrate bad taste and creepy peripherals this Halloween. Yes, Sorceress! [USB Geek via Technabob and DVICE]

Cross-game text chat has been around since April, but voice chat has so far been a no-show. Kotaku writes that they tried to contact Sony for a truly official response, but only received a curt reply:

As you know, we haven't made any announcements on upcoming firmware and don't comment on rumor or speculation.

It's quite possible that the next firmware update will in fact bring cross-game chat, but I think we're getting a bit too excited over a forum post. [Playstation Forums via Kotaku]

So will there be 1:1 movement, accelerometers, or IR bars? We don't know. All the product promises in terms of functionality is the full gamut of Dual Shock controls (though note one analog stick is missing), "three dimensional motion sensing" and "super sensitive movement sensors."

But somehow the Blaze PS3mote promises to be compatible with Sega Tennis and Tiger Woods. Without the full support of EA or Sega (which we're doubting they have), it's hard to imagine the controller working very well. But hey, we're happy to be proven right when it comes out at an undisclosed time for an undisclosed price. [Blaze via ubergizmo]

First Place—Brian Garten

Second Place—Jairo Filho

Third Place

Create a twisted PlayStation 3 ad for Sony, and send it to me at contests@gizmodo.com with Sony Ad in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs or GIFs, and use a FirstnameLastname.jpg naming convention using whatever name you want to be credited with. Send your work to me by next Tuesday morning, and I'll pick three top winners and show off the rest of the best in our Gallery of Champions. Get to it! [Original image from Charlie White's "Understanding Joshua" series]